Climate Literacy Teach-In at the University of Minnesota

climate literacy graphic with maroon back and gold icons and white text
Classroom with students in round table discussion

Highlighted Events

climate literacy kickoff breakfast Learning Abroad Center

Kick-off Breakfast

November 14th, 2024, 9-11am

Presidents Room (3rd floor), Coffman Memorial Union

Climate Literacy 101 with Mayor Melvin Carter and Dr. Heidi Roop

Climate Literacy 101

November 14th, 2024, 11am-2pm ("climate cool" lunch provided)

Mississippi Room (3rd floor), Coffman Memorial Union

With special guests Melvin Carter, Mayor of St. Paul, and Dr. Heidi Roop, Assistant Director for Climate Services, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and UMN Climate Adaptation Partnership

All Events (November 14, 2024)

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Beginner Level

  • Climate Literacy Teach-In Kick-off Breakfast
    • Time: 9-11am
    • Location: Presidents Room (3rd floor), Coffman Memorial Union
    • Host: Learning Abroad Center
    • Breakfast provided
       
  • POSTPONED: Transit 101
    • Time: 10-11am
    • Host: Parking and Transportation Services
    • Location: Zoom
    • Transit 101 will be a high-level review of campus and public transit options. We will review the campus transit routing/schedule, the Employee and Universal Transit Pass programs, and demo the transit trip planning tools.
       
  • Climate Literacy Workshop
    • Time: 10am - 12pm
    • Location: Zoom
    • Host: Center for Climate Literacy
    • This interactive workshop introduces participants to a few key strategies in using picture books to teach climate literacy at all levels—especially in the college classroom!
       
  • Climate Literacy 101
    • Time: 11am - 2pm
    • Location: Coffman Memorial Union, Mississippi Room
    • Host: Office of Sustainability
    • The Climate Literacy 101 interactive workshop is designed to interpret the science and impacts of climate change for broad action, on campus and beyond. Special guests Melvin Carter, Mayor of St. Paul, and Dr. Heidi Roop, Assistant Director for Climate Services, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and UMN Climate Adaptation Partnership
    • Lunch provided
       
  • The Impacts of Fast Fashion on the Environment
    • Time: 12-2pm
    • Location: CMU front plaza & Riverbend plaza
    • This event will focus on the impacts of fast fashion on the environment and helping people make decisions that encourages purchasing products that will last longer through more sustainable sources such as thrifting, material quality checks, as well as understanding how income impacts that accessibility.
       
  • Student Activism Related to Climate Justice
    • Time: 1:30-2:30pm
    • Host: UMN Students for Climate Justice
    • Location: Bruininks Hall, room 230
       
  • Waste Recovery Services Tour
    • Time: 2-3:30pm
    • Location: Meet at Como Recycling Facility, then walk together to the ReUse Center
    • Host: Waste Recovery Services
    • The business of recycling and reuse is dedicated to conserving resources. Learn more about how these efforts are creating positive change on our campus.
      • Please wear closed-toed shoes as we will be walking through the facility
      • Parking: We recommend taking the bus (Routes 3A and 3B run along Como Ave) biking or carpooling as parking is limited. Street parking is also available on Como Ave. A bike rack is available by the main entrance. 
      • Please keep in mind that we will be walking on various surfaces and climbing stairs, so wear appropriate attire that allows for comfortable movement and mobility. 
      • Safety glasses will be provided.
         
  • An Introduction to Campus Decarbonization
    • Time: 2:30-3:20pm
    • Location: Zoom
    • Host: Office for Supplier Diversity, a unit of the Office for Equity and Diversity
    • Wendy Placko, Sustainability Program Manager at RMF Engineering, will offer an overview of greenhouse gas emissions (often referred to as “carbon emissions”) and how they relate to the operation of campuses. We will then examine drivers for reducing emissions (or "decarbonizing"), including regulations and climate commitments, and learn how engineers help campuses reduce emissions.
       
  • "Behind the Scenes of Creation" - Tour of Ceramics & Sculpture with the Department of Art
    • Time: 2:30-3:30pm
    • Location: Meet at Regis Center for Art - East
    • Host: Department of Art
    • This session reveals the invisible labor and material extraction that enable engagement in ceramic creative practice within higher education, focusing on curricular goals for incorporating sustainable practices. It will include a tour of the area, showcasing changes in systems to support and mitigate contributions to climate change.
       
  • Climate Grief Listening Circle & Sound Meditation
    • Time: 3-4pm
    • Location: Meditation Space (B-393), Mayo Memorial Building; 420 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis
    • Host: Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing through the Waking the Oracle initiative
    • Many of us are experiencing a deep sense of loss because of our changing climate, resulting in feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression. This session will serve as an accepting and supportive space, where you and any feelings you are experiencing are welcome, just as you are and without a rush to action. We hope to create connection by listening with heart, being in silence together, and sharing as you wish. In addition to the listening circle, sonic meditation on earth kinship will be offered as a wellbeing practice, designed for rest and to alleviate stress and nurture resilience.
       
  • Tour the Bell Museum's Research Collections
    • Time: 4:30-5:30pm
    • Location: Ecology Building (St. Paul campus), room 130
    • Host: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior (Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Club)
    • Tour the Bell Museum research collections and learn about the ways that natural history collections can help us better understand the effects of climate change on species and ecosystems.
       
  • Sustainability Through Creative Vision
    • Time: 5-7pm
    • Host: SUST 3480 students
    • Location: Health Sciences Library Makerspace
       
  • Academic Technology Informal Community of Practice (ATiCoP) meeting (private event)
    • Host: College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) - Digital Education and Innovation (Academic Technology)
    • The ATiCoP will get a brief introduction to climate literacy and how academic technology work intersects with sustainability and climate action.
       
  • Private Event: How much do you know about Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change? An AI-CLIMATE Trivia Competition
    • Host: Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering
    • This session will take place in an existing course, BBE3023: Ecological Engineering Principles
    • A "Climate Literacy Pub Trivia" drop-in activity across classrooms in the department, as well as in those taught by faculty affiliated with the AI-CLIMATE Institute. Teams will compete for prizes by answering questions related to artificial intelligence, digital agriculture, climate-smart agriculture, and climate-smart forestry.

Intermediate Level

  • Bell Museum Climate Stripes event and Free Planetarium Shows
    • Time: 10am-4pm
    • Host: Bell Museum
    • Location: Bell Museum and Bell Museum Planetarium (free planetarium admission for this event)
    • A range of sessions scaled to beginner through advanced. The Bell Museum's programs provide ways to learn more about climate and find ways to get involved through immersive experiences and hands-on activities.
    • Add your birth year to the community visual project, Climate Stripes (open all day) and learn about global warming, threats to biodiversity, and how you can build your climate action footprint.
    • We’re also offering two climate-related planetarium shows, with free tickets for University of Minnesota students:
      • Habitat Earth, 1:30 pm (Ages 8+) 
        From the tallest trees to the smallest fungi, dig into the dynamic relationships in our connected world. Learn about the human impact on the world around us and the steps that we can take to maintain the human and ecological networks.
      • Atlas of a Changing Earth, 2:30 pm (Ages 10+)
        The University of Minnesota’s Polar Geospatial Center is featured in this stunning film visualizing the processes affecting our warming planet. Using latest-generation imagery from space, Atlas of a Changing Earth takes viewers into the dynamics causing coastal glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica to melt, and explores how rising seas could threaten coastlines the world over. These striking new images are produced by the confluence of satellites and supercomputers, revealing Earth in a degree of precise detail scarcely imagined a generation ago.
      • To reserve a ticket as a UMN student, call or come in and show your U card to get a ticket to the show(s) of your choice.
         
  • Main Energy Plant Tour Participation is capped at 25 people)
    • Time: 1-3pm
    • Location: Main Energy Plant
    • Host: Energy Management
    • The University of Minnesota's Main Energy Plant is a state of the art "tri-gen" plant, providing heating steam, electricity and chilled water to the Minneapolis campus.  Commissioned in 2017, this facility was instrumental in the University's success in reducing carbon emissions (50% decrease from a 2008 baseline).  Built to provide reliable, resilient, and cost effective utility service in one of the B1G's most challenging climates, MEP is the flagship of the Twin Cities campus utility plants. The tour will also discuss the University's current Climate Action Plan goals and strategies developed to accomplish them.
       
  • Climate Justice Education Workshop with Dr. Michelle Garvey
  • Designing Rich Student-Created Media Projects for Curriculum
    • Time: 3:00pm
    • Location: Zoom
    • Host: UMN Libraries
    • Learn about potential opportunities for designing rich student-created media projects into their curriculum. UMN Libraries Media Outreach Librarian Scott Spicer will provide practical guidance on media assignment design considerations drawn from actual case studies of courses he has supported at the University of Minnesota.
       
  • Understanding the Health Impacts of Climate Change and How to Adapt
    • Time: 3-3:30pm followed by open Q&A
    • Location: Zoom
    • Hosts: Dr. Teddie Potter, Director of Planetary Health, School of Nursing; and Dr. Kent Boyd, Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Public Health Extension Educator, University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership
    • Climate change is the greatest threat to global health in this era. It is essential that people understand the health impacts of climate change and their role in mitigation, adaptation, and resilience
       
  • The Cost of Doing Nothing Workshop
    • Time: 5-7pm
    • Location: Folwell Hall room 12
    • Host: Institute on the Environment
    • En-ROADS is an online simulator that provides policymakers, educators, businesses, the media, and the public with the ability to test and explore cross-sector climate solutions.
       
  • Climate Literacy Workshop with BBE, AI-CLIMATE Institute
    • Host: Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering (BBE), AI-CLIMATE Institute
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All events were free and open to all students, staff, and faculty unless otherwise noted.